Q: After spending over twenty years as a trial lawyer, what made you decide to write a novel?

A: Lawyers write a lot, and I always enjoyed that part of being a lawyer. But I didn't give any serious thought to fiction writing until the USGA paired me with Bo Links to do a presentation in California on legal issues pertaining to golf. I had read Bo's excellent book, Follow the Wind, and told him how much I liked it. He began to encourage me to try my hand at it. Sometime later, I was in a Baton Rouge hotel room during several days of depositions there, and the story of The Greatest Player Who Never Lived just came to me. I told Bo about it, and he pushed me to write the story. It didn't take long to write; the story just seemed to spill out.

Q: It takes most first-time novelists years to get published. Is it true that your first book was accepted by the very first publisher you sent it to?

A: Yes. I didn't realize until later how rare that is.

Q: Did you expect The Greatest Player Who Never Lived to have such a great impact when it was published?

A: No. I thought it was a good story, but I didn't know what to expect. I never dreamed that people like Dave Anderson, Furman Bisher, and Edwin Pope - all giants in the field of sportswriting - would write such wonderful things about the book.

Q: What do you think is the secret to a good novel?

A: It's really very simple: Have a good story, and tell it well.

Q: That's it?

A: I think so. The story's the thing. If it's good, it'll pull the reader along. You just have to stay out of the way.

Q: After The Greatest Player Who Never Lived created such a splash, did you feel a lot of pressure in writing The Greatest Course That Never Was?

A: Not in writing it, because I was basically finished with The Greatest Course That Never Was before The Greatest Player Who Never Lived came out. But once I saw the great reception that the first book received, I knew it was important not to disappoint anyone with the second book. Needless to say, I'm very happy with how well the second book has been received.

Q: Your books are about golf, but they seem to be about much more than that. Do you agree?

A: Yes. I have been very pleased at how many non-golfers have enjoyed the books. You don't have to play golf to enjoy these stories - or the characters within them.

Q: Weren’t you in the process of writing another golf story?

A: I've recently completed my third book titled The Caddie, which is now available to the public. I'm really proud of it, and I think it's my best work yet. So far it’s gotten positive reviews and looks to be as great a seller as the previous two.

Q: I understand you just completed your fourth book - but it isn't golf related? Are you going to stop writing about golf?

A: Yes, my fourth book was recently published by Globe Pequot,and you're right it isn't about golf. But it IS about one of my other passions - law. It's entitled Shell Game, and for me it was a bit more personal since it affected our family and a very long battle we had wth Shell Oil. But, no, I'm not going to stop writing about my greatest hobby. In fact, my next book is going to be called No Cure for the Dumbass - and it should be out in the next few months.

Q: Will the story have the same kind of unusual twists and turns that have been your trademark?

A: Yes, I think so. It's the only way I know how to write.